I'll Tell You Anything You Want To Hear
by chalantness
Summary: She's sitting on the toilet seat with tears in her eyes and a positive pregnancy test on the counter and no one to promise her that everything will be alright. Part of the College 'verse.


**Title: **_I'll Tell You Anything You Want To Hear__  
_**Rating:** T  
**Word Count:** 3,600+  
**Characters:** Wally/Artemis with a bit of Roy/Jade and Dick/Zatanna  
**Summary:** She's sitting on the toilet seat with tears in her eyes and a positive pregnancy test on the counter and no one to promise her that everything will be alright.

**Note:** Part of the College 'verse.

**I'll Tell You Anything You Want To Hear**

This wasn't supposed to happen. She thought she just had the stomach flu but she took one, anyway, just to be sure and now she kind of wishes she hadn't. She's barely an adult yet and she's still got classes and her future to worry and this is all just really, really stupid.

And the awful part is that she's totally _alone_.

Zatanna has class right now and then lunch with Dick, and she'd cancel her plans in a heartbeat if Artemis asked her to, but Artemis doesn't want to drag her best friend into this hell with her. She can't even call Wally, either, because they got into this fight and usually they make up by now but they _haven't_ and it's all just so _stupid_.

So she's sitting on the toilet seat with tears in her eyes and a positive pregnancy test on the counter and no one to promise her that everything will be alright.

... ...

She's nibbling on a bar of dark chocolate in front of the TV when there's a knock at the door.

It can't be Zatanna because her class doesn't end for another twenty minutes, and it probably isn't Wally because he usually works his part-time job at the theater right now. It _might_ be Dick, but she highly doubts it. He stops by occasionally to hang out, but she thinks he had something planned for today.

She gets up and answers it without really caring that she must look awful right now, because she's in sweats and her hair's a mess and her eyes still feel puffy from crying.

"Roy?"

"Hey," he greets from. He looks like he wants to say something more, but then seems to think better of it.

"You're early," she says, glancing at the clock on the wall as she steps aside to let him in. She's supposed to be visiting him and her sister this weekend, but Roy wasn't supposed to pick her up for at least another two hours. He flew in for a meeting in town and they're going to drive to their place in her car so Artemis would have a way back home.

"The meeting got out early." She nods, shuts the door and meets his eyes. "We don't have to hit the road right now, though. Jade's not expecting us until seven or eight."

"Actually, that'd be kind of perfect," she admits. "I'm already packed and… I just really need to get the hell out of here."

He gives her a look. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She passes him to shut the TV off and then walks into the kitchen to pluck her keys from the table. "Let's just get on the road and grab some food from a drive-thru," she says, and he catches her keys when she tosses it towards him, "and then we can talk about how shitty my life is right now, alright?"

He cracks a smile, and she didn't even realize how much she needed one until now.

... ...

Zatanna calls her when Artemis and Roy are more than halfway there, which isn't much of a surprise. Zatanna probably went to lunch as soon as she got out of class because Dick likes to show up on campus unannounced and surprise her like that, and then they most likely went shopping afterward or something. They're the kind couple that can spend every hour of every day together and never run out of things to talk about or stuff to do, and they rarely feel the need to spend time away from each other.

It's honestly the healthiest relationship Artemis has ever witnessed in her life, including her own one with Wally, which…

Well, she doesn't really know what's going on with them right now.

But she took a picture of her pregnancy test before they left, printed it out and wrote a note on the back and left it on the table where Zatanna would find it. She would've just left the test there but Artemis just really wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible.

"Do you want us to meet you at your sister's?" Zatanna asks as soon as Artemis picks up. "We just got back and… Dick can probably get us there in—"

"'Tanna, it's fine," Artemis reassures. "Just stay there. I think I need this weekend to sort things out."

"You shouldn't have taken that test alone," she says softly. "Why didn't you tell me that you thought it could be that?"

"For the same reasons you waited to tell me yourself."

"I'm sorry," Zatanna apologizes, which Artemis thinks is kind of ridiculous considering none of this is her fault. "I thought your stomach flu was a bit suspicious, and I should've come to you as soon as I realized that you were late, but… I shouldn't have waited to tell you. I just wanted to be sure before thinking it could be something so…"

"Huge?"

"Yeah," she sighs. "I feel awful."

"Don't be, alright? None of this is your fault at all."

"I let you take the test alone," Zatanna answers quietly. "That's my fault."

Artemis closes her eyes and exhales slowly. "I love you, you know that?" she tells her, voice barely above a whisper.

"I love you, too, Artemis," Zatanna says, and then there's a muffled voice in the background. "Oh, shut up," Zatanna mumbles away from the phone, and Artemis lets herself laugh a little. Dick's probably at their dorm with her. "Artemis? Are you sure you don't want us to come to your sister's?"

"I'm sure, 'Tanna," Artemis tells her. "Like I said, it's probably the best time ever to get away and process everything. We're close, so I'll call you when we get there, okay?"

"Okay," Zatanna says.

Artemis hangs up and sets her cell back in her purse on the floor, brings her feet up on the seat (she kicked her shoes off about an hour ago) and wraps her arms around her knees. She sees Roy glance at her. "I'm alright," she tells him for the sixth time since they left the dorm. She wonders how many more times it'll take before she actually believes it.

"Right," he says, obviously unconvinced, but says, "But I was actually going to ask you something different."

She looks at him and his eyes are locked on the road.

"Are you going to tell Wally about this?"

Artemis exhales, propping her elbow against the door as she pushes her fingers through her hair. "That's a good question," she says, because she's been wondering that exact same thing ever since she found out and she still hasn't decided on an answer for it.

"I know you'll probably hate me for pointing this out," Roy says, and Artemis has zero time to brace herself before he adds, "But Wally has just as much to do with this as you do."

Artemis glares at him, and he either can't tell because he's driving or he's just ignoring it. "Let's just drop it," she says through her teeth.

"Artemis."

"What do you want me to say, Roy?" She looks away. "This is the longest we've ever fought and, frankly, the _worst_ fight we've ever had, and then _this_ happens."

"Maybe, but the child's still half his and you can't just ignore that," he reminds. She can hear it in his voice that he's trying not to yell, and she kind of hates him right now. Whether it's because he's holding back or because he's playing devil's advocate for his friend, she's not sure of yet. "Or are you getting a…"

He can't bring himself to say _abortion_ and she feels tears sting her eyes.

Because, _yes_, she did think of it. She could get rid of it without Wally ever having to know and that will be that. It's _her_ body, after all, and she should have that option, shouldn't she? She's barely an adult and not ready for a baby and if she does this, she can focus on finishing school and getting a job and worrying about that stuff later, like she's supposed to.

But then she thinks of how hard it would be to be with Wally knowing what she did and that she hid it from him.

He'd _hate_ her if he ever found out, and even if he didn't, she doesn't think she'd be able to be with him in any capacity and not think of a little redheaded boy or girl with freckles and her eyes staring back at her.

Still.

Look how easy it is for him to ignore her right now. He can walk away just as easily if she told him as he would if she had an abortion and didn't tell him and he found out.

She's not sure how any of this is fair.

But she exhales slowly, looks out the window as she says too softly, "No, I'm not having an abortion."

... ...

She's sitting on the couch with Jade, eating their frozen yogurt that Roy bought them after they had Thai food for dinner and not really watching the black and white film that's playing on their flat screen.

The word "abortion" is ringing in her head and kind of drowning out everything else.

And she's not really sure when Jade turned off the TV, but when she comes back to reality, Artemis notices how quiet it is and that Jade is sort of just watching her. Artemis just lets out this sigh and rests her head against Jade's shoulder. She hasn't curled up next to Jade like this since they lived under the same roof.

"Artemis, are you really sure about this?" She meets her sister's eyes. "You've only taken one so far and you know those tests aren't always accurate."

"I know," Artemis exhales. "You have no idea how much I want it to be… _god_, I feel horrible even _thinking_ about it. I don't think I could have an abortion, but at the same time…"

"You don't have to say it, Artemis," Jade tells her, reaching up and wiping a few tears away.

"I'm not ready for this, Jade," Artemis says. "I… I can't do this by myself…"

"You're not going to be alone." She looks away, but Jade grasps her chin with her fingers and makes Artemis meet her eyes again. "Okay?"

Artemis nods, but she doesn't think it convinces either of them.

... ...

Artemis remembers falling asleep on the couch, but she wakes up beside Jade, staring at the armoire in Jade and Roy's bedroom.

What time is it?

She blinks a few times, trying not to shift too much as she sits up. Her eyes are a little itchy and there's a lump in her throat from feels _awful_.

She swings her legs over the side of the bed and stands up, sliding her feet into Jade's slippers by the nightstand and feeling for the door through the darkness. When she gets in the hallway she expected it to be dark, too, but she can see a faint light beyond the stairs, which means the kitchen lights are on.

Roy's pulling a kettle off of the stove and switching a burner off by the time she walks into the kitchen, and he looks mildly surprises when he turns to see her standing there.

"Couldn't sleep," Artemis explains.

Roy nods like he understands, opens a cabinet. "Want some tea?"

Artemis nods, and Roy sets two mugs on the counter and splashes some hot water into each, dunks a tea bag into each before pulling out a bear-shaped bottle of honey from another cabinet. He squirts some into hers without having to ask (he always makes hers and Jade's drinks when she comes over) and slides it in front of Artemis.

She sits herself on a barstool and they sort of just drink a few sips in total silence, not really looking at each other.

She's never really woken up in the middle of the night like this before, or at least not on her own, because sometimes Wally or Zatanna would wake her. And she's stayed up this late for parties and writing papers, but only a handful of times and all of them were on accident.

Still, she feels oddly awake right now and she doesn't know why.

"I didn't kick you onto the couch, did I?"

Roy shakes his head. "Jade got the idea from a site to put a bed in the nursery, so I just crashed there. Besides, I thought you might want to spend the night with your sister."

"Thanks," she says. He nods and takes another sip. "So, how do _you _think my sister's taking the pregnancy?"

He presses his lips together, a thoughtful look in his eyes. "I think, in a lot of ways, it hasn't fully hit her that she's going to be a mom," he admits. "And I think she's afraid that she's not going to be good at it. She generally doesn't act nervous about it but I can just tell that that she's worried."

"She didn't have the greatest relationship with our mom when we were younger," she says, even though he probably already knows. "You two are going to be great parents."

"So will you."

She shoots him a look.

"I didn't necessarily mean in the near future," he explains. "But you're a lot like Jade. That's how I know you'll be fine."

"Yeah, well," Artemis says, sipping some of her tea, "That makes one of us."

Roy shrugs. "It's not my job to convince you," he says, dumping the last few sips of his tea into the sink before putting his mug in the dishwasher. "I think I'm going to go back to sleep. Did you still want to sleep next to Jade or…?"

"Go sleep with your wife," she tells him. "My stuff's in the guest bedroom, right?"

"Yeah." He passes her and stops in the doorway. "You should probably check your phone."

And he's walking up the stairs before she can even ask why.

... ...

There's a voicemail from Wally on her phone when she makes it to her room, and there are a few seconds where she considers not even listening to it.

She hates that all it takes is hearing him say her name and she's already crying. Well, her eyes are watery, at least. It feels like it's been forever since she's heard his voice.

"Artemis, I'm sorry for everything, alright?"

She exhales a shallow laugh and wipes a tear from her face.

"I know it took me forever to say it but everything we talked about just took a while to sink in. I'm sorry for saying all of those things and for making it seem like… _God_, you know I suck at this stuff. You think I'd be better considering how often we've… Look, I'm sleeping in my car in your sister's driveway tonight because I really need to see you and—"

And she doesn't even hear the rest of the message as she slides off of the bed and pushes the curtains away from the window that looks over the street, craning her neck to see.

His car really _is_ sitting in the driveway. _Crap_, how long has he been out there?

"Damn it, Wally," she mutters, pulling her robe out of her suitcase and slipping it on as she's walking back downstairs. She slides into a pair of Jade's slippers by the front door and ties her robe in place, pulls the door open and shudders almost instantly at how cold it is outside.

Wally's passed out in the driver's seat, uncomfortably curled up against his door, and she already feels her anger dissolving.

She taps his window a few times and watches him stir in his seat, blinking himself awake. He meets her eyes through the glass and sits up a little straighter, mouthing, "Artemis?"

She nods and walks around the front of the car, opens up the passenger door when he unlocks it and slides inside, yanking the door shut. Somehow it feels even colder in here than it does out there. It's probably because of the leather seats.

"What are you doing here?"

"I needed to see you," he says softly. It takes everything in her not to cry at hearing his voice in person instead of a voicemail. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Don't you think it was hard enough for me to process on my own?" she snaps, and then takes a breath to calm herself. "You have no idea how it felt when I found out."

"But I could've." Now she looks at him, and she's not sure why it's so hard to keep her composure as she's staring back at his green eyes. "What I meant was why didn't you tell me you thought you could be pregnant? I could've been there with you when you took the test."

"We were fighting, Wally," she reminds.

"So? That doesn't mean that I wouldn't have been there for you."

"Well, I'm sorry if the fact that you hadn't talked to me in almost a week made me doubt that, okay?" She wraps her arms around herself and looks away. "It was the longest we'd gone without seeing each other after a fight. What else was I supposed to think, especially after _what_ we fought about?"

"Artemis…"

"You basically said that I was too emotionally damaged to ever feel comfortable in our relationship. And I never realized how true that was until you were the one saying it."

"Artemis," he repeats, and she closes her eyes and wishes he'd stop saying her name. "Everyone's emotionally damaged in their own way."

She rolls her eyes. "That makes everything _so_ much better, Wally."

"I know you, Artemis," he says, and she looks at him again. "You don't want to make the same mistakes your parents did and you're scared about getting too close. I can't even begin to think of myself without you, now or even in the future, and you probably can't, either, and it freaks you out. That's why you ran, right?"

She shakes her head a little. "What makes you think that you know me better than myself, Wally?"

"Because I see you differently than you do," he says simply. "Artemis, we're not going to go through what your parents did. We have our own screw-ups for that."

She can't help the laugh that escapes. He smiles.

"Look at your sister and Roy. They're not a repeat of your parents." He reaches for her hand, and she flinches at how cold his is but doesn't pull away. "Artemis, you can function while being single and emotionally shut down, but I know you don't _want_ to. You don't like being alone, and I don't plan on leaving you alone. And you know how stubborn I am."

And she grins because, yeah, if Wally wasn't naturally stubborn, they probably never would've become more than just sex buddies.

She looks down at their joined hands, runs the pad of her thumb over his skin.

"I can't picture myself with anyone other than you," she says softly. "But Wally, I'm… I'm still _terrified_ at the thought of becoming a parent."

Wally blows out a breath. "Me too," he admits. "But whatever happens, we're in it together, okay?"

"Okay." She smiles, leans over and presses her lips against his and then laughs a little as she pulls away. "Let's go inside, because I'm not kissing you again until your lips thaw out."

He grins and squeezes their fingers together.

"Whatever you say, babe."

... ...

Wally's awake when she comes back from the bathroom in the morning, and she lets out a small laugh at how ridiculous the bed looks because they piled so many blankets over him to keep him warm. He looks at her with a smile, but he furrows his eyebrows a bit as she sits next to him.

"Did your sister say something to you in the hallway?" She gives him a weird look. "I heard you guys talking but I couldn't make out the words," he explains.

She hits his shoulder. "Would you quit eavesdropping?" she asks.

"You know how thin these walls are," he reminds, and she doesn't _want_ to blush at the memory it brings up, but she can't help it. He laughs. "But seriously, Artemis, what's up?"

She meets his eyes.

"I went to the bathroom, and… I got my period." His eyes widen, and she bites her lower lip a little. "I guess the test was a false positive, and…" She exhales, and he pulls her against his chest and rubs her back. "Don't hate me for saying this but I'm kind of relieved."

"Why would I hate you for saying that?" he chuckles. She looks up at him. "We were both scared. And obviously it's just not our time to become parents."

She smiles and lets out a relieved laugh, letting hip wipe some of the tears from the corner of her eye with his thumb.

"Someday we will be," she tells him, and she shouldn't find the stupidly wide smile of his so adorable, but it _is_. "I love you," she says softly.

He kisses the top of her head. "I love you, too."


End file.
